Papa Mink and Dad Aoba
by Echomoon-broken
Summary: Following on from Mink's Re:Connect route, Mink and Aoba are now married and have decided to take the next step and adopt two boys to raise as their own. Rated T for later situations, and the fact that Mink will be swearing. A lot.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So...been a while since I did anything on here. Now, because this fic has characters speaking both Japanese and English - and I don't speak Japanese - starting from the next chapter, speech that is Japanese will be in these: () . Just for the record, the dialogue in this chapter is Japanese. So, without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

It was late at night, and Aoba couldn't get to sleep. He had turned over in bed many times, occasionally pulling the hand woven blanket tighter around him, but sleep continued to evade him. He opened his eyes and sighed, then glanced over at Mink, who was sleeping with his back turned towards Aoba.

"Don't tell me," Mink spoke, causing Aoba to spook slightly, "You're worried about the kids tomorrow."

"Well...um, yeah," Aoba admitted, more to himself than to Mink, "What if they don't like me because I can't unde-"

"You can speak English, idiot. You just can't read and write it," Mink said, turning over to look at Aoba. "We'll teach them Japanese, and in the meantime, there's the Allmate's translators."

Aoba looked away from Mink's gold eyes. "I know that but... What if they don't like me in general?" He asked, glancing back up.

Mink sighed. "Idiot. They will like you," Mink said, resting his arm on Aoba's waist, "They'll be around you the most, so they'll get to know you well. You're going to be the one cooking most of the meals, and they'll like your food. You're going to be a good dad."

"...Thanks," Aoba said, "You'll be a good dad as well. You'll keep them safe."

"Thank you." There was a silence, then Mink pulled Aoba closer to him.

"E-Eh? What are you doing?"

"You're cold. This is to warm you up," Mink explained, then softly stroked Aoba's hair. "Now, go to sleep."

"I will," Aoba said, closing his eyes and leaning into Mink, "Good night."

Mink leaned in kissed Aoba's forehead. "Good night," he said, as Aoba slipped into sleep.

The next morning, Aoba woke up to Mink to shaking his shoulder.

"Get up," Mink said, "We have to leave in an hour."

Aoba let out a groan of complaint, but opened his eyes and glared at Mink, who was already dressed. Mink held Aoba's gaze for a few moments, until Aoba looked away. Mink threw Aoba's clothes at him.

"I'm making breakfast," Mink said as he left the room, "So don't take long." Aoba nodded, and sat up in bed, yawning as he did so. He picked up his shirt and got out of the bed, the sound of Mink cooking already starting. It was little more than the sizzle of an egg in the frying pan, but it was enough to get Aoba dressed quickly. When he was finally dressed, he went to the kitchen and found Mink sliding waffles onto a plate, eggs following shortly after.

"Waffles?" Aoba asked, sitting down at the table, "You don't normally make waffles."

"Today's a special day," Mink said, siting down across from Aoba and picking up a knife and fork, "I'll make them again later for the children."

"They'll like that," Aoba said, "Should I bring Ren along?"

"If you want," Mink said, cutting his waffle and spearing a piece with his fork, "I don't think it'll be necessary though."

"There are documents though," Aoba pointed out, his eyes on his food, "and I can't understand written English."

"I know," Mink said, "but all you have to do is sign them. I can explain them to you."

"Thank you," Aoba replied, "I'd like that." He picked up his knife and fork, and started to eat. The two of them ate until they were full, Aoba occasionally complimenting Mink on his cooking. Mink wiped his mouth with a napkin and looked up at Aoba.

"Are you ready to go then?" he asked.

Aoba nodded. "Just let me get Ren and my coat and we can set off."

"Don't take long," Mink said as Aoba got up and headed over to the bedroom. Aoba knelt down next to his bag (he always kept it by the bed) and unzipped, revealing a amount of dark blue fur, which then moved, and lifted its head up, revealing Ren.

"Aoba," he said, "Is today the day?"

"Yes, it," Aoba said, picking up Ren and hugging him, "We're going to adopt the kids today!"

Ren cocked his head slightly. "Does this mean I'm getting downgraded to family pet?"

"Ren! You're not being downgraded to anything," Aoba said with a slight laugh, "You're more of a partner than a pet, and you're staying that way."

"I don't think the kids will see it that way," Ren paused, "but thank you. Am I going along with you?"

"You are," Aoba said, putting Ren down and looking for his coat, "Looking forward to it?"

"I suppose so," Ren said, "How old are the two brothers?"

"Six and eight," Aoba said, finding and putting on his jacket, "Though the older's one birthday is apparently next month, and the six year olds the month after."

"I see," Ren said, climbing back into the bag, "Should we get going then? Mink will be waiting."

"Yeah, I know," he said, picking up the bag with Ren in, "Let's go then."

When Aoba left the bedroom, Mink was waiting by the door, holding a travel flask in his hand that smelt of coffee. He didn't say anything, just opening the door and holding it for Aoba to go through. When Aoba had, he followed, soon walking side-by-side with Aoba, grabbing Aoba's hand and holding it, smiling softly as he did. They walked for a while until they can out the forest, the vast plain stretching out in front of them, when a thought hit Aoba.

"Hey, Mink," he said, "Won't the boys get tired?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Aoba looked down at his and Mink's entwined hands, "It's three miles from where we park the truck to our home, so they may get tired a lot."

"The woman who did our home assessment said it was okay, didn't she?" Mink asked, "They'll be fine. If they get tired, we can carry them."

Aoba nodded, though he was frowning, and kept mostly quiet for the rest of the walk, humming slightly at points. They arrived at the place where Mink's truck was parked, Aoba climbing into the seat next to the drivers, placing his bag on his lap after he put his seat belt on. Mink glanced at him, smiling to himself, as the blue-haired boy opened his bag and pulled out Ren. As Mink started up the truck, he heard a soft conversation take place, but chose not to listen in and instead focusing on driving. When they were half-way to the nearby foster home, Aoba had put Ren away and had opened his Coil. He was frowning at it, eyes scanning over his writing like he was an editor.

_Hey everybody_, he had wrote, _I can't wait to introduce you all to the kids! Me and Mink are heading over to pick them up right now. I'm really excited, but mostly nervous, and I know that Mink is too, even if he isn't showing it. The paperwork is going to be hard to understand, as you all know what I'm like with English, but Mink will be there to help me. We'll be mostly getting them settled in next week, so I may not be talking a lot. I'll keep you updated on them though. Here's hoping the boys will like us!_

_- Aoba_

"Mink, do you want to want to say anything to our friends and Granny?" Aoba asked.

"Say that if they want, they can come over for Christmas to meet the kids," Mink said, navigating complicated roads with ease, "Even Red."

Aoba nodded, quickly typing a small note at the bottom.

_P.S Mink says that you can come over to ours for Christmas this year, instead of us going to Midorijima like the last few years, so you can meet the kids. Anyone up for it?_

He hit the send button then sighed, relaxing back into the car seat. He looked down at his left hand, a gold ring glinting on his hand, and smiled. The shine had dulled slightly over the years, but otherwise it was good as new. Mink's ring - also on his left hand - was slightly duller, with one scratch on it from his crafts working, but it still had obvious signs that it was looked after. Aoba reached up and found his necklace, running his fingers along the chain until he had reach his engagement ring. When Mink had proposed to Aoba a few years ago, Aoba hadn't been able to talk for a few moments, staring at shock at Mink. Mink had began to worry, saying it was okay if he didn't say yes, that was he was probably rushing things - until Aoba had kissed him, say 'yes' over and over again until his throat was raw.

It still made Aoba smile when he though about it.

"We're here," Mink said, parking the truck outside the foster home, "Are you ready?"

Aoba gripped the ring, and turned to face Mink, leaning in to kiss him. They held it there for a few moment, before pulling away.

"Yes," he said, "I'm ready."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Just a reminder, brackets equal people talking/writing in Japanese.

* * *

"Ah! The Seragakis, correct?" A woman in her early twenties asked from outside the truck. She was holding a large amount of files in her arms, and seemed be hiding her nerves behind a wide smile.

"Yes," Mink confirmed, now with an arm wrapped around Aoba's shoulders, "I'm Mink, and this is my husband, Aoba."

"Nice to meet you both," she said, now shifting through the files, "Now, if would get out of your car and follow me, you can finally meet Oscar and Liu." She turned on her heel and walked into the house, Mink and Aoba following her shortly after. Inside the house, she lead them to an messy office, where she sat them down.

"Drinks? Tea, coffee?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and upon shaking heads, she nodded, "Okay. Let me go get the two boys and then we can go over the paperwork." She left the room, the door closing behind her. Aoba grabbed Mink's hand and squeezed it. Mink glanced at him, then squeezed his hand back to reassure him. The two sat in silence, holding hands as the clock ticked in the corner. The door opened, and the social worker appeared again, holding it open.

"Come on in, you two," she said, "Meet your new parents."

Mink and Aoba turned their attention to the door as two young boys entered. One was tall, with short, clipped, dark brown hair, neatly combed to practical perfection. His eyes were grey-green, hidden behind a pair of gold framed spectacles, and his skin was eerily pale, like he spent all of time inside. The other was much smaller, only slightly underneath the first boy's shoulders, with straight, blond hair, cut at chin length, with a dusting of cinnamon coloured freckles across his face. He blinked his dark brown eyes at the two men in the chairs, and cocked his head to the side.

"Is that a man or a woman?" he asked, pointing at Aoba. There was a silence in the room as everyone comprehended what was just said, Aoba slowly growing red from embarrassment. Mink turned to Aoba, amusement growing on his face. Aoba pointed at Mink.

"(Don't say a word)," he said, then turned to the blond boy, "I'm a man. I just look like a girl."

The boy nodded, a small smile on his face. The social worker sighed, but continued to smile.

"Aoba, Mink, this is Liu and Oscar," she said, gesturing first to the brunette, then to the blond, "Now, if I just go to my personal office to get the file with all the paperwork in, you four can get to know each other." She left, muttering something about today being an off day.

"Are you two really going to be our new dads?" Oscar asked, pulling his older brother's jumper sleeve, "What should we call you then?"

"Whatever you want," Mink said, "I don't mind."

"You can call me (Dad)," Aoba said, and then patted the seats next to him, "Why don't you two sit down?"

Liu nodded, pulling Oscar along with him, sitting down on the chair and looking at his lap. "(Dad)..." he muttered, then glanced at Aoba, "That's Japanese, right?"

"That's right," Aoba said with a nod, "Oh, hang on." He moved is bag to his lap, and zipped it open, making Oscar and Liu peer at it in curiosity, jumping slightly when Ren poked his head out.

"Ren, English Mode," Aoba said, lifting Ren out of the bag and onto his lap, then looked at the boys, "This is Ren, my Allmate."

"Hello there," Ren said, sitting down in Aoba's lap, "Are you the boys that are being adopted?"

"Yeah, we are," Liu said, reaching out with one arm, then stopping himself, "Um, can I pet you?"

Ren nodded, and Liu stroked Ren's soft fur slowly, a small smile on his face. Ren closed eyes his and sighed, lying down now.

"Let me!" Oscar said, reaching over Liu and patting Ren's head, "Have you got any other pets at home?"

"I'm not a pet..." Ren muttered quietly.

"He's not really a pet per say," Mink said, "but there's my Allmate, Lulakan."

"Is he nice?" Liu asked.

"Mmm...I can't really say he's nice," Aoba said, "but he's not really mean either."

Liu nodded as the social worker cam back in, arms full of paper, muttering apologies under her breath. She sat down across from the five, pulled out some sheets from the stack on the desk, and smiled at them.

"I'm sure you want to get home quickly," she said, turning the sheets around so they were facing away from her, "and we've been over this paperwork before, so if you can both just sign here -" she pointed to two lines "- and then print your names below, you call be collect the suitcases and be off."

Mink pulled out a pen from his jeans pocket and took the document, writing his neat signature on a line, the printing his name underneath. He slid the pen and paper over to Aoba, who who quickly printed the kanji that made up his name, the paused at the print line.

"Does it have to be the English version of my name?" he asked, then when the social worker nodded, swore under his breath in Japanese.

"Is it okay if I print it for him?" Mink asked.

"It has to be him," the social worker said, "otherwise I believe it's fraud."

"Aoba," Ren said, "Here." He then projected a small screen, upon which were the words _Seragaki Aoba._

"Thanks, Ren," Aoba said, then proceed to carefully copy the words, glancing up at the screen, until he finally printed it all and dropped the pen.

"Thank you," the social worker said, taking the document, then turning to the boys, "Would you two like to run and get your bags? I just need few moments alone with the Seragakis."

Liu nodded, and took Oscar's hand, pulling him along as they left the room. The social worker picked up two files from the desk, and gave them to Mink.

"Their files," she said, "Though I've already gone over their history with you, these files go into more detail. I'll be visiting every 30 days to make sure everything is going smoothly until the adoption is finalized."

"We understand," Mink said, tucking the files under his arms, "Thank you for helping us with all of this."

"It's fine," she said with a smile, "Shall we go? The boys will be waiting."

She got up, and walked out of the room, Mink following. He paused at the door, and looked at Aoba.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Aoba looked, and grinned at Mink.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, picking up Ren and putting him in the bag, "Let's go." And before Mink could protest, Aoba had stood up, walked over to Mink and kissed him. He pulled away, and grabbed Mink's hand. Mink frowned slightly.

"Did you hear a squeal?" he asked, but Aoba shook his head, and tugged at his hand. They walked down to where the social worker was waiting, Oscar and Liu beside her, both of them holding suitcases. Oscar was swinging his back and forth widely with one hand, his other hand grasping Liu's hand. Mink smiled at them, and gestured to the suitcases.

"Let me get those for you," he said, and took them from the two, "Let's head to the truck now."

Oscar grinned and pulled excitedly on Liu's hand, Liu wincing slightly. "We're going home!" Oscar whispered, "We have a home!"

Liu nodded, pushing up his glasses with his free hand. He looked at Aoba, and bit his lip. "Um... is it okay if I hold your hand?" he asked. Aoba smiled and nodded, holding out his hand, which Liu grasped tightly. Mink went outside the building first, Aoba following with Liu pulling Oscar along. Mink opened the door to the truck and gestured for Aoba and the boys to climb in. They did so, Aoba sitting on the far right, Liu next him, still holding hands with Oscar, who was sitting next to Mink. The social worker waved from the doorway as Mink started up the truck, then went back into the house as Mink began to drive. Aoba pulled out his coil, and checked his messages, finding three - one from Clear, one from Koujaku and one from Granny. Liu watched him curiously.

"Can you not read English?" he asked quietly, causing Aoba to start slightly, but he nodded.

"I can speak it just fine," he said, "but when I see and try to write the words, they just end up confusing me, and they keep getting me frustrated."

"Oh..." Liu said quietly. Aoba returned his attention to his coil, and opened the message from Clear first.

(_Master! Don't be too nervous about the kids or the paperwork! Just think about all the joy they'll bring to you and Mink! And I'll love to visit at Christmas time! I'll sing the Jellyfish song for the boys!_)

Clear had peppered the letter with emoticons, as he usually did. Aoba closed the message and opened Koujaku's.

(_Aoba. Mink. Congratulations on becoming fathers, both of you. Don't forgot to pay attention to them, otherwise their problems can slip through the cracks and become a lot worse if you don't know about them. That's my advice for you two. And yes, I'll visit you two at Christmas to meet these kids. Noiz said he will as well, but then he closed his Coil and told me to tell you, the little son-of-a-bitch. If he contacts you later, tell me so I can tell him off for being so lazy. Again, congratulations_.)

Aoba sighed at the mention of Noiz in the message. Over the past few months, Koujaku had increasingly mentioned Noiz in the messages, Noiz doing the same with Koujaku in his. Aoba hadn't pried that much into, aside from a few passing comments about how the two seemed to be finally getting along - until the next message had mentioned another fight the two had. Since then, he had just accepted it. Finally, he opened the message from Granny.

(_Aoba! Listen to me! You need to take care of those kids as best you can. I'll be there at Christmas so I can see how well you're raising them. And I'm hoping that your present will be able to come with me, but you know what the airports are like. Take care of those kids!)_

Aoba smiled and closed down his Coil. "Clear, Granny and Koujaku said that they'd like to come over for Christmas," he told Mink, "and Noiz does as well, according to Koujaku."

"Who?" Oscar asked, blinking at the sudden rush of names.

"Our friends back in Japan," Mink said, turning onto the the road that lead back to the truck's parking place, "and your (Dad)'s grandmother. They want to come over at Christmas to meet you two."

"Oh, cool!" Oscar said, while Liu just nodded. Mink parked the car, and turned to the two boys.

"Are you ready to see your new home?" two nods, and Mink smiled "Good. Let's go."

* * *

A/N: Hooray, boring legal stuff. Fun fact: the social worker is kinda based of my best friend. Anyway, two things: 1. Expect more boring legal stuff in the future, and 2. I think this fic may kill me. I live in England, and this place in America so guess who has to research American-English? Lucky, lucky me. Seriously, I had to look up American car seats because I remembered you guys don't do it the same way as here. Now, to research the American education system!


	3. Chapter 3

"I told you they would get tired walking to the house," Aoba said, carrying Oscar on his back. They were partway back to the house when Oscar had tugged on Aoba's jacket sleeve, asking to be carried the rest of the way. Liu hadn't said much, but his walking speed was causing them to walk at a much slower pace than Mink and Aoba were used to.

"We'll get used to it!" Oscar said, his arms wrapped around Aoba's neck, "...eventually."

Mink chuckled and ruffled Oscar's hair. "You should do. You'll be walking this twice every school day."

"How far away is the house now?" Liu asked, doubled over and wheezing slightly.

"About a mile," Mink said, "Don't bend over like that though." He placed his hands on Liu shoulders and helped him to stand up straight. "It stops the air from getting to your longs properly." Liu nodded, and took some deep breaths, before walking forward again. Mink moved one suitcase to his other hand, and took Liu's hand in his own.

"I'll help you," he said. Liu nodded, and kept quiet as they walked, not releasing his grasp on Mink's hand. When they reached the forest that equalled the last half mile of the walk, Oscar slightly loosened his grip on Aoba's neck.

"You live in here?" he asked, his brown eyes wide. Aoba nodded, and readjusted Oscar. Liu stepped a bit closer to Mink, and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Come on then," Aoba said, "It won't come to us." Aoba then walked down the dirt path, humming a song to himself. Liu looked up at Mink, who gently tucked a stray hair behind Liu's ear. He then led the boy into the forest, Aoba's blue hair visible just up ahead. The walk didn't seem to take that long, Aoba reaching the cabin first and realising Mink had the keys. He shook his head, and turned his head to look at Oscar.

"Can I put you down now?" he asked, and Oscar nodded, waiting until Aoba had bent down before removing his arms from Aoba's neck. He slid down to the ground, and Aoba straighten up, grinning while ruffling Oscar's hair. Mink appeared, Liu slightly behind - though still holding his hand. He dropped it, and ran up to Oscar, engulfing him in a tight hug. Mink shook his head while smiling, put down the suitcase and dug in his pockets for the keys. He pulled out the keys, then went up and unlocked the door, holding the door open for Aoba and the boys.

"You two go in first," Aoba said, picking up the suitcases Mink had dropped with one hand, "We'll be right behind you."

Oscar squirmed out of the hug and rushed in, Liu following quickly, looking nervous as he did so. Aoba followed, only to be stopped by arms being wrapped around his waist and a kiss to his head.

"I just realised," Mink said, moving one hand up to Aoba's hair, "I forgot to braid your hair this morning."

"Hm?" Aoba's hand ran through his hair, "You're right." Ever since their engagement and subsequent marriage, Mink had taken to braiding some of Aoba's hair every morning, adding feathers on special occasions. He kissed Mink lightly. "You can do it later."

"I will," Mink said, taking a suitcase from Aoba, "Let's show these boys the cabin."

Aoba nodded and went in, Mink close behind. The door shut, and they saw Liu and Oscar standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, staring at Lulakan, who was sitting tall and proud on the back of the sofa. Lulakan turned his head slightly to face Mink.

"Are these the boys you've adopted?" he asked, to which Mink nodded, "I see." Lulakan then began to groom himself, still keeping an eye on the two boys.

"Do you two want to see your bedroom first?" Aoba asked, getting Ren out of his bag and putting him of the floor, "You're sharing, but there's enough space for the two of you to have separate desks."

Liu kept his eyes his eyes on Lulakan as Oscar nodded. Oscar tugged on Liu's hand as Aoba gestured them to follow him, pulling Liu along. Mink sighed.

"Don't scare the kids," he told Lulakan, then followed the boys and Aoba to the room. It was Aoba's old room, slightly rearranged to accommodate two people. There was now two beds, one pushed against the left wall, but the beds themselves were far apart enough for a small bedside table to be placed in between them, which had a lamp on, and two drawers. Two hand woven blankets - similar to the one on the shared bed - covered the beds, with another pile of blankets in the right corner, next to a large wardrobe. On the right-hand side of the room, there was a table with drawers, with a chair at either end.

"We're sorry it's kinda empty," Aoba apologised, ushering the boys into the room, "but you two can decorate it a little, if it really bothers you."

"It's fine!" Oscar said, letting go of Liu's hand and trying to wrestle his suitcase from Mink's hand, "I like it like this!"

"Good," Mink said, releasing the his grip on the suitcase, "I'm glad you do."

Liu didn't say anything, just walking over to the bed by the wall and sitting on it. "It's soft."

"It should be," Mink put down the other suitcase, "as it's hand-woven."

Liu nodded, then went to pick up his own suitcase. He put it on his bed and opened it, standing in a way that obscured the contents.

"We'll let you unpack," Aoba said, "Come and tell us when you're done."

"We will!" Oscar replied as Liu nodded. Mink and Aoba then left, leaving the boys to themselves. When they got to the main room, Mink handed Aoba the two files, then went to the kitchen area.

"Will you look over these while I start on the waffles?" he asked, to which Aoba nodded, picking up Ren from the sofa. He sat down at the table, opened up the file.

"Ren, can you translate this for me?" he asked, and Ren nodded, scanning in the information from the document, and projected a small screen with a translation on it.

"Hm...Liu has sleeping problems," Aoba told Mink, "and apparently he's been described weak sleeping pills to deal with it. They should be in his suitcase."

"Right."

"There's nothing else on here besides a slightly more detailed version of what they went through," Aoba said, closing the file and Ren's projection, then opening Oscar's file. Once again, Ren scanned and translated the document as Mink placed a coffee for Aoba on the table.

"Thanks," Aoba muttered, picking it up as he scanned the information, "I don't think there's that much here either. Same story, no health issues." Mink nodded from the kitchen, having silently moved back there, and broke two eggs into a bowl.

"I'll take a look at it myself," he said, "just to see what there is."

"U-Um..." a quiet voice ventured from the doorway, "M-My social worker lady told me I had to give these to you..." Aoba looked up and saw Liu, holding a bottle of what appeared to be pills.

"Ah, thank you for that," Aoba said with a smile, getting up from the table and walking over to Liu, gently taking the pills from his hand, "How often do you need them?"

"J-Just once, before I go to bed," the boy said, looking down at his shoes. Aoba smiled at him, and went to ruffle Liu's hair, who took a step back, before turning and returning to the bed room.

"I don't think he likes that," Mink said, "Oscar seems like to be the one who likes contact. Remember what we read in the file?"

"...yeah. I do," Aoba replied, rubbing the back of his neck., "Do you think I should-"

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Mink told him, now sifting flour into separate bowl, "He needs to get used to being touched without it hurting. Just give him time."

"I'll try," Aoba muttered, sitting back down and putting down the bottle, picking up the coffee instead, "Should we tell them what's most likely going to happen around here?"

"When they're eating lunch," Mink said, "then we should be fine."

Aoba nodded as his coil went off. He checked it, finding a message from Noiz.

(_Congrats on the kids. Koujaku told me to tell you that I'm going over at Christmas as well. And I told you before, I can help you with English. Or German. Whatever. Later._)

"Noiz says he's coming over," Aoba told Mink, closing the screen, "and that he can help with my English."

Mink nodded, and the two fell into a silence, the only sounds being Mink started to cook the waffle batter.

"We're done!" Oscar half-yelled, making Lulakan wince.

"Okay!" Aoba called back, then he turned back to Mink, "Are they almost done?"

"Yeah. You check on them, and I'll set these out," Mink said. Aoba nodded, and left the room, not sure what to expect. He opened the door, and found Liu sitting calmly on the bed by the wall, reading a slim book, and Oscar sitting on the other bed, his arms crossed.

"You only got that bed 'cause you're bigger than me," he muttered under his breath, then he noticed Aoba, "(Dad)! Tell Liu that I should have that bed!"

"We flipped a coin, and I won," Liu said, not looking up from the book, "Tell him that I'm not budging."

"You two, I don't think it matters much," Aoba said, looking around the room, "Hey, you've sorted out this room well." Indeed, the room was much like it was earlier, apart from the addition of books on the desk, and the two suitcases resting against the wardrobe. Aoba noticed something hasitly stuffed under Oscar's pillow, but chose to ignore it for now.

"It's mostly his stuff," Oscar said, "He has a lot of books. I just have Ninten."

"Ninten?"

"His toy wolf," Liu said, turning a page over in his book.

"Hey!" Oscar said, "He's more than that!"

"Stop it, you two," Aoba sighed, "Lunch is ready, so come on."

The two boys nodded, Liu turning over his book instead of closing it. The two followed Aoba to the table in the main room, where Mink was setting down plates that had waffles on them.

"Careful, they're hot," he warned the two kids, turning around to grab his and Aoba's plates. They sat at the table, Oscar's eyes going slightly wide in excitement. Liu sighed, and sat down next to Oscar, picking up his knife and fork, cutting up the waffle, picking up a piece with his fork. He blew on it gently, then popped it into his mouth.

"Woah... this is good," he said, after swallowing it, "Is there cinnamon on this?"

"Yeah," Mink confirmed, sitting across from Liu, "By the way, do you want to know what the schedule will be when school starts?"

"Please," Liu said, as Oscar nodded, now eating his own waffle.

"Mink won't be here in the morning, because he has to leave early for his job," Aoba said, "so I'll be here to make sure you're okay and to get you ready."

"Right," Liu said with a nod, "Does this mean we have to walk six miles every day?"

"Well... nine and half," Aoba admitted, "It's about a mile and a half away to your school, and Mink needs to drive to his work."

"Can't you drive?" Oscar asked.

"We only have one car," Mink said.

"Oh."

"Also," Mink continued, "Aoba will be the one picking you up most days, but on Fridays, I'll be there."

"Right," Liu nodded.

"I think that's all, right?" Aoba asked Mink, who nodded, "Okay then. Bed time's at half 8, for both of you, okay?"

"Oh! Um, tonight?" Oscar said, "Can you read us a story, please?"

"Sure," Mink said, "But first, you need to eat."

Oscar and Liu nodded, and continued to eat. When they had done, the rest of the day passed in relative quietness, Liu reading in his room, and Aoba and Ren keeping Oscar entertained until it was eight PM.

"But I'm not tired!" Oscar complained, but Aoba shook his head.

"Rules are rules," he said, standing up from the floor and offering his hand, "and I'm not having you breaking them on the first day you live with us, okay?"

"...Okay," Oscar said, "But Papa has to read us a story!"

Mink looked up from his chair, and nodded. "All right. Go and get ready, and I'll be right behind you."

Oscar nodded, and took Aoba's hand. Pulling himself up, he let go and headed for the bedroom. Aoba smiled, then jumped when Mink suddenly wrapped his arms around Aoba's waist.

"He decided on Papa, huh?" he asked, dangerously close to Aoba's ear, "Given that he thought you were a girl, does this mean you're Mama?"

Aoba went red. "S-Shut up. He didn't think I was a girl, he just couldn't tell the difference."

"Hm. Let's just go to their bedroom," Mink said, kissing the top of Aoba's hair. Aoba nodded, and went first, Mink following slowly afterwards, grabbing Liu's pills from the sideboard. In the bedroom, Liu was already in his pyjamas and under the covers, but his glasses were still on. Mink sighed, went over to Liu, and took his glasses off.

"I don't recommend sleeping in those," he told Liu, folding up the glasses and putting them on the side table, "They hurt after a while."

"Oh, I see," Liu said quietly. Oscar shifted in his own bed, and sat up.

"What are you going to read to us?" he asked, and Mink now saw a small, toy wolf next to Oscar, a red bandanna around its neck.

"Hmm... good question," Mink said, putting the pills down, "Do you need a drink with these, Liu?"

"Um, y-yeah."

"I'll go get one," Aoba said, leaving the room.

"Um...Papa?" Liu asked, "C-Can you read this book, please?" He held a small, colourful book, which Mink took from him, and examined the cover.

"'The Owl and the Pussycat'?" he asked, and Liu nodded, "Okay then." He opened it, sat down on Liu's bed, and began to read.

"'The owl and the pussycat went to sea/in a beautiful pea-green boat..."

* * *

A/N: I'm going to say this first in regards to my writing; Space is warped and time is bendable. Okay, confession time. This thing is going to be a lot more episodic from here on out, and I'm hoping for weekly updates. This also has a changed ending, as it originally didn't end on Mink reading. I'm sure why I chose that poem, but I did. Peace out, y'all.


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